The liquid crystal displays (LCDs) possess many advantages, such as, for example, high display quality, small volume occupation, light weight, low driving voltage, and low power consumption. Therefore, the liquid crystal displays are gradually replacing conventional cathode ray tube (CRT) displays and are applied widely to 3C (computers, communications, and consumer electronic) products, for example, personal digital assistants (PDAs), cellular phones, video recording units, notebook computers, desktop monitors and projective televisions.
In the beginning, the transmissive LCDs have been the main field of development. Generally, a light source, called a back light, of a transmissive LCD is located behind the display. Hence, the material used for the pixel electrodes has to be a transparent conductive material such as indium tin oxide (ITO). The back light of a transmission LCD is the most power-consuming component. However, the widest application of LCDs is portable computers and communication products, for which batteries are the main power supply during use. Therefore, decreasing the power consumption of an LCD is the main direction in the development of LCD products.
A reflective LCD is a solution to the problems mentioned above. The light source, such as a natural light source or an artificial light source, of a reflective LCD is located outside the LCD. The electrophoretic display (EPD; also referred to as electronic paper) is a novel optoelectronic display technology.
The electrophoretic display can be applied to, for example, electronic billboards, electronic books, IC cards, and even displays for computers and televisions. The electrophoretic display can be easily scrolled up or attached on any planar surface to demonstrate information and pictures when a control chip is attached thereto.
In general, the electrophoretic display usually comprises two plastic plates with electrodes placed opposing each other to display the image. Therefore, the electrophoretic display is scrollable and cuttable to any desired dimensions. The electrophoretic display is an energy-saving display which can display a static image with very little power consumption. Alternatively, some of the electrophoretic display can also adopt the glass plates to dispose the electrodes thereon for displaying the image.
Generally speaking, the metal lines of the electrophoretic display are isolated to the lower circuits by a resin layer, and the transparent electrodes are disposed thereon. However, the photoresist, which could have impurities therein or any other undesired reasons, cannot be smoothly applied to the substrate while manufacturing the transparent electrodes. Therefore, some of the transparent electrodes are electrically connected together so as to reduce the manufacturing quality of the clectrophoretic displays.
Referring to FIG. 1, an electrophoretic display is controlled by scan lines 110 and data lines 120. A defect 130 is formed between the adjacent transparent display electrodes 160 so as to electrically connect the adjacent transparent display electrodes 160. The short circuit caused by the defect 130 between the adjacent transparent display electrodes 160 can therefore interfere with each other so as to degrade the display quality of the electrophoretic display. In general, the defect 130 is cut by forming a first cutting slot 140 and a second cutting slot 150 with a laser beam to isolate the adjacent transparent display electrodes 160. However, the metal line, such as the scan line 110 or the data line 120 under the transparent display electrodes 160, may therefore be damaged by the laser beam while repairing the display electrodes 160. Therefore, the electrophoretic display must either be repaired again to fix the damage on the metal line or scrapped.